Endorsements? We don’t make no stinkin’ endorsements

About this time every election year, emails come in over the electronic transom and ask something like: “Who are you endorsing in the election?”

Endorsements? We don’t make no stinkin’ endorsements.

Seriously, it is the job of a newspaperman to cover the news — nothing more, nothing less. Endorsing a candidate, at least to me, seems presumptuous and pretentious. My job should be to give readers enough facts to help each make up their own mind about any upcoming election.

I’ve always thought it pretentious for newspapers to make endorsements. It is even more so for elected officials. Republican officials, as a general rule, endorse other Republicans. Democrats endorse other Democrats. Any pretense of objectivity is laughable and any claim that an elected official is not partisan for others of their kind is an insult to voters and constituents. It is nice to be pleasantly surprised when someone breaks from the mold, but it seldom happens.

This web site tries hard to be nonpartisan. We apply the same yard stick to Republicans, Democrats, Libertarians and independents. Expectations are the same for those from the right, the left or the middle. Conservatives and liberals are treated with equal disrespect.

Voters are expected to be adults. Yes, I know that can be a reach in some cases, just as it is generally for politicians and partisans but it is not our job to tell anyone how to vote.

So how will I vote? Beats the hell out of me. At this point I have not made up my mind.